Crochet: Sly Fox Hat

By Lisa Gutierrez on 10/01/2013

October is here! I love October because it means that MAYBE cool weather is on its way to Houston. Probably not, but a girl can dream, right? October also means it’s costume time! Last year, I composed two sweet costumes for my boys’ book character parade (see here) at school.

It features some interesting shaping to create the point at the front and long sides to cover the ears. It is definitely inspired by Ganomy, which, if you’ve been reading long, is my favorite knit hat pattern. This crochet hat is worked from the top down, though, and, like I said, has a point at the front. Instead of two sets of increases and decreases, there eventually are three. I hope you guys like it! I’ll put some notes at the END with suggestions for changing the size. Please read through before asking questions! Have fun!

PatternHAT
With large hook, Ch 3, 11 DC into a magic circle. Cinch circle shut. Slst into top of beginning (beg) ch-3. (12)

Round 2: Ch 3, 1 DC in same sp, 2 DC in each st, slst to top of beg ch-3. (24)

Round 3: Ch 3, 2 DC in next st, *1 DC in next st, 2 DC in next st; Rep from * around, slst to top of beg ch-3. (36)

Round 4: Ch 3, 1 DC in next st, 2 DC in next st, *1 DC in next 2 sts, 2 DC in next st; Rep from * around, slst to top of beg ch-3. (48)

Round 5: Ch 3, DC in next 7 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 15 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 7 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (54)

Round 6: Ch 3, DC in next 8 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 17 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 8 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (60)

Round 7: Ch 3, DC in next 9 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 19 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 9 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (66)

Round 8: Ch 3, DC in next 10 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 21 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 10 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (72)

Round 9: Ch 3, DC2tog, DC in next 9 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 9 sts, DC2tog, DC in next st, DC2tog, DC in next 9 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in next 9 sts, DC2tog, slst to top of beg ch-3. (72)

Rounds 10-11: Repeat Round 9. (72)

Round 12-13: Repeat Round 9, but switch to white after the third decrease and work with that yarn, carrying the MC, to the stitch before the next decrease. You will have to attach the new color every round. Finish the round in the main color, attach white at the end.

Round 14: SC around in white, making [1 SC, ch 2, 1 SC] in the center DC of the increases of the previous round, slst to first SC. Fasten off. Weave in ends.
————————–Ears
Note: the ears are made up of two pieces each– a solid piece in the MC of the hat and a piece that is white + the MC.

Make 2 solid pieces for the back of the ears
Ch 10
Row 1: SC in second chain from hook and each of the rest. Ch 1, turn. (9)

Row 2: SC2tog, SC 5, SC2tog. Ch 1, turn. (7)

Row 3: SC in each st. Ch 1, turn. (7)

Row 4: SC2tog, SC 3, SC2tog. Ch 1, turn. (5)

Row 5: SC in each st. Ch 1, turn. (5)

Row 6: SC2tog, SC in next st, SC2tog. Ch 1, turn. (3)

Row 7: SC in each st. Ch 1, turn. (3)

Row 8: SC2tog, SC in next st. Ch 1, turn. (2)

Row 9: SC2tog. (1)

Ch 1, SC 9 down the side of the triangle. At bottom corner, ch 3, then turn triangle clockwise to work across the beginning chain, SC 9 to next corner, Ch 3, then SC 9 back to top of the triangle. SC in the sc2tog stitch from last row, ch 3, SC in same st, slst to first of the SC you made down the side of the triangle. Fasten off.

Make 2 pieces for the front of the ears.
Work pattern as above, but switch to white for Rows 2-9. Switch back to main color after last SC2tog and work border in MC. Leave a long tail at the end of these pieces.

Stitch a front and back together, then sew in place on your hat.
————————–Eyes & Nose
With smaller hook, make 6 SC into a magic loop. Cinch loop shut. Slst to first SC.
Round 2: Ch 1, 2 SC into same space and each stitch, slst to first SC. Fasten off, leaving a 12-18″ tail for attaching. (12)

For Eyes only
Slst into each st.

Sew eyes and nose in place with tail yarn.

Notes on size
As-is, the pattern fits a child size heads. My son is 5, but his head is about the same size as his 8 year old brother. For a larger hat, I increased my hook to a 5.5 mm (US I) and added some more repeats of Round 9 before making the last 3 rounds. It would be possible to make some more complicated increases, but I can’t give any specific advice on that. Try working the pattern through once, so you can see where the increases are placed and then work it again, adding an increase round after Round 4 (increase to 60) and then some round(s) after 8 (remember–Rounds 5-8 are increasing stitch count by 6 DC each round). The last 5 rounds are the same, so you would just need to figure out where to put the decreases that balance out the increases. Good luck!

212 comments to Crochet: Sly Fox Hat

I am attempting to make this for my grandson and of course as I always am when reading the patterns, I get a little confused as I’m a beginner, so please accept my apologies. Round 5 is where my confusion starts. After everything in parenthesis the word “twice” has me thrown. Do you do everything outside of the parenthesis twice or both whats inside and outside of parenthesis twice?

I just made the beanie part for a newborn. I used an F/5-3.75 MM hook and Caron Simply Soft yarn.
Follow the instructions for the first 4 rounds as above. By the time I was finished with R4, the diameter of the crown was just over 4 inches
Round 5: ch3, DC2tog, dc in next 5 sts, *3Dc in next stitch, dc in next 5 sts, Dc2tog, Dc, Dc2tog, Dc in next 5 sts* (crochet from * to * twice). 3Dc in next stitch, Dc in next 5 sts, DC2tog.
rounds 6-7: repeat round 5
Round 8: repeat round 5, except change to white after the third decrease and then change back to our main color before the next decrease.
Round 9: repeat round 8
Round 10: same as Round 14 in the original pattern above.

I have not gotten to the eyes, nose, or ears yet, so I am not sure what the size change should be. I will experiment with that tomorrow. I hope the above will help you.

I just worked the ears for the newborn size and I did 6 chains instead of 9 to start. Then jumped to row 5 and continued. Will probably make a similar reduction in the eyes an nose by reducing by 2 or 3 in the chains and SC. Thanks for figuring out the newborn version!

I printed this pattern for my Mum to crochet, and she’s not sure what happened, but it’s far too small. It’s more like a beret – there’s no way it’s long enough to cover your little boy’s ears!

She’s using the Patons Canadiana Weight Cat 4 and 5mm hook size (I thought maybe she single crocheted by accident, but that’s not it). She’s going to unrip it and start again, but do you have any advice or ideas as to what she may have done wrong? She made a gauge swatch and it turned out fine…

I don’t crochet myself, but my Mum really isn’t computer literate so I do this part for her.

I really love the pattern, and I’d love to see my godson wearing the hat! Thanks in advance for any help you can give…

I love this and am making it for my greatgrandson who is 6. But I have run into a problem. Round 12…when you attach the white yarn, it says to “carry the MC to the stitch before the next decrease”. What do you mean by “carry the MC”?
Thanks for the answer and thanks for the cute pattern.
Greatgrandma Joy

Carry the MC means lay the main color along the row you are working and crochet around that yarn with your new color, that way, when you change back to the main color for the rest of the hat, you won’t have more ends to tuck when the project is finished and the color change goes more smoothly.

Where it says “For Eyes Only….slip stitch into each stitch,” what is that referring to? Is that how you are attaching the eyes to the hat or do you mean around the outer portion (like an additional round) to make them bigger than the nose?

Not for this hat. It’s pretty straightforward crochet terminology, though. You need to know how to work in the round and a few stitches (specifically the double crochet and the double crochet decrease and increase).

I wanted to make a fox hat for a co-worker. I tried a larger hook and adding two more copies of row 9 but it wasn’t big enough. Here’s what I ended up doing (I think the total stitches per row are correct):

Round 8: Ch 3, DC in next 10 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 21 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 10 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (72)

Round 9: Ch 3, DC in next 11 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 23 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 11 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (78)

Round 10: Ch 3, DC in next 12 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 25 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in last 12 sts, slst to top of beg ch-3. (84)

Round 11: Ch 3, DC2tog, DC in next 11 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 11 sts, DC2tog, DC in next st, DC2tog, DC in next 11 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in next 11 sts, DC2tog, slst to top of beg ch-3. (84)

Rounds 12-15: Repeat Round 11. (84)

Round 16-17: Repeat Round 11, but switch to white after the third decrease and work with that yarn, carrying the MC, to the stitch before the next decrease. You will have to attach the new color every round. Finish the round in the main color, attach white at the end.

Round 18: SC around in white, making [1 SC, ch 2, 1 SC] in the center DC of the increases of the previous round, slst to first SC. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

OK so I spoke too soon. The hat with the 2 increase rows AND the extra “repeat” rows was just too big. I went back and took everything out up to round 13, then skipped to round 16. That made a nice-sized hat for an adult. BTW I used an I (5.5mm) hook and Red Heart Super Tweed Fire for the main color and Red Heart Super Saver Aran for the accent color. I love the hat and I’m sure my friend will, too.

Thank you so much for the pattern. I love the way it look’s but here is my problem. I am a beginner and I used the same size hook as indicated, a 5, and have almost finished the hat except for the single crochet around. The hat is so large I don’t know of any adult it would fit. I used Caron Simply Soft 4 ply yarn. Can you please help? Could I be crocheting too loosely or do you have any other suggestions? I know that the yarn is machine washable and dryable so I am hoping I can shrink it without having to tear the entire hat apart.
I appreciate your help.

I just finished making this hat also, using an H/5.00 mm hook and Vanna’s Choice yarn. Mine fits me really well! Which I’m pretty excited about. Anyway, I do have a loose hand, which I’m sure accounts for this. I wanted to make a bigger hat, so this is good for me.

However, to go smaller, you probably just need to use a G hook and try and make your tension tighter, too, since the hat you have is too big for an adult. That should help.

For your wash and dry idea, because the yarn is acrylic, it probably won’t shrink much.

Hi! Looked through the comments to see if this question was already asked; forgive me if I missed it. Does the chain 3 at the beginning of each round count as a double crochet in your round count? Thanks so much!

I am so excited about making this cute hat for my grandson’s school fundraiser. I am almost finished with hat except for the ears. Can you give me any advice on how to place them and then sew them in place? Thanks for sharing your creativity!

Help please! I have the same problem as Sandra R.; (March 1st comment)… my hat is way too big, using an H hook. My gauge with an H hook and worsted wt. yarn is exactly as you have instructed! I am not skilled enough to know how to make my own increase/decrease adjustments to correct this, could you offer any ideas? Thanks so much, Love the hat! Meantime, am going to start over with smaller hook!

Perhaps your gauge is a little looser than mine. I crochet 7 double crochet stitches per 2″ in the round with the H hook. You could try a smaller hook and see if that helps. On the first page of comments, I left some suggestions for making it smaller:

Aside from decreasing hook and/or yarn size, my [untested] suggestion would be to stop increasing after Round 7 (66 stitches) and then go to round 9, but change EVERY “DC in next 9 sts” to “DC in next 8 sts.” Round 9 has increases and decreases that even itself out. They’re placed in certain spots in the round, so change the 9 to 8 to make sure they’re in the same general position as the original pattern.

If that is still looking too big, you can stop at Round 6 (60 stitches) and change that Round 9 to “DC in next 7 sts.”

AND, you may need to make less Rounds after your new Round 9. Just go until it looks to be the right height for him. It should fit over his ears.

Thank you so much!! I gave the red fox to my daughter and the white one to her best friend as a reward for their bravery in shaving their heads for the Leukaemia Foundation here in Australia, so again, thank you!!

Hi, I’m attempting to make your sly fox but have come across a problem. I get to row 4 and that’s fine I end up with right amount of stitches but row 5 I’m ending up with stitches left over after following pattern to end. Has anyone else noticed this as well. Thanks

Hi Lisa, I don’t think this has been asked yet and please excuse me if this is a really silly question but are the instructions in UK or US terminology as I’d love to attempt this but also need to adjust stitches depending. Tia x

Hi there, I love this pattern and have made one of these hats for my nephew. Just thought I’d mention though that I found one of these for sale on this link. As it says above that the pattern is for ‘personal use only’, I thought you’d want to know and maybe contact this seller.

I am having difficulties with round 9. I consider myself a proficient crocheter and understand the terminology and abbreviations. But I cannot get my DC 3 (points) to line up with the previous rows. I have counted all of my stitches and everything works up until the second decrease. Are the points supposed to line up? Anyone else have this difficulty?

Hiya,
I am in the midst of attempting this for my almost one year old boy. With a 4.5mm hook. So far so good! It fits surprisingly snug, which is good, seen as (in nz) winter is almost over so heading into spring.
Thanks so much for this pattern! I’ve been meaning to give it a go for a while. I’ve yet to do the eyes and ears but I’m sure it’s going to look stunning :)!!

On the first page of comments, I left some suggestions for making it smaller:

Aside from decreasing hook and/or yarn size (which is what I would do for a small baby!), my [untested] suggestion would be to stop increasing after Round 7 (66 stitches) and then go to round 9, but change EVERY “DC in next 9 sts” to “DC in next 8 sts.” Round 9 has increases and decreases that even itself out. They’re placed in certain spots in the round, so change the 9 to 8 to make sure they’re in the same general position as the original pattern.

If that is still looking too big, you can stop at Round 6 (60 stitches) and change that Round 9 to “DC in next 7 sts.”

AND, you may need to make less Rounds after your new Round 9. Just go until it looks to be the right height for him. It should fit over his ears.

Round 9: Ch 3, DC2tog, DC in next 9 sts, [3 DC in next st, DC in next 9 sts, DC2tog, DC in next st, DC2tog, DC in next 9 sts] twice, 3 DC in next st, DC in next 9 sts, DC2tog, slst to top of beg ch-3. (72)

Rounds 10-11: Repeat Round 9. (72)
after rnds

My question – Round 9 has decreases so how would I still have 72 sts after rnds 10 & 11 or am I missing something>

On the first page of comments, I left some suggestions for making it smaller:

Aside from decreasing hook and/or yarn size, my [untested] suggestion would be to stop increasing after Round 7 (66 stitches) and then go to round 9, but change EVERY “DC in next 9 sts” to “DC in next 8 sts.” Round 9 has increases and decreases that even itself out. They’re placed in certain spots in the round, so change the 9 to 8 to make sure they’re in the same general position as the original pattern.

If that is still looking too big, you can stop at Round 6 (60 stitches) and change that Round 9 to “DC in next 7 sts.”

AND, you may need to make less Rounds after your new Round 9. Just go until it looks to be the right height for him. It should fit over his ears.

This hat is super adorable and wanted to make one for my little sister for Christmas. The only problem is that it’s waaaay to loose, even for my head. I used a size H hook and Carron Simply Soft yarn. I followed the instructions to the letter and I have no clue why mine came out so much bigger. :(

Hi, I am making this fox hat for a Christmas gift and i am totally confused on adding the white for the face when it starts at row12-13, do you have a video tutorial or can you give me any advise, thanks kim

Hello and thank you for the pattern. I did this hat for a 7 year old following your pattern and it fit well. Then I wanted to do it bigger , for a teen , and this is what I did:
After Round 4 I added a round of increase:
Round 4 a : Ch 3, 1 DC in next 2 sts, 2 DC in next st, * 1 DC in next 3 sts, 2 DC in next st* , repeat from * around slst to top of beg ch-3. ( 60 sts )
Then I skipped rounds 5 and 6 .
I did rounds 7 to 13 just like your pattern and I added 2 extra rounds of Round 9 before Round 14 ( the 2 rounds I skipped)
It turned out great for a teen or small adult size. I used same yarn and hook like the first time.

I really love this pattern, thank you. I’ve made it for my nephew who will be seven next week but it looks a bit small, which is probably my poor skills. Could anyone give me the dimensions of their hat for a similar aged child so I can guage whether it will fit? (I don’t live near him to test it out).

I love this pattern but I’m struggling to get the sizing right. I am making for my 5 year old son who’s fox mad but as I am in Australia it is almost impossible to get worsted weight yarn. I am using 8 ply yarn which is equivalent to American DK weight. If anyone has suggestions help would be greatly appreciated!

I’m not sure if it’s just me but your numbers don’t really add up. Lie starting on row 5? There’s always a stitch open for another dc. And in order to get the right about of stitched you have to add the dc.

Is this causing you problems in the rest of the pattern? My counts add up.
For example, round 4 ends with 48 stitches, so in Round 5….
Ch 3 = 1
DC in next 7 sts, = 7
[3 DC in next st, DC in next 15 sts] twice,= 32
3 DC in next st,= 1
DC in last 7 sts,= 7
1+7+32+1+7 = 48 stitches you are working into to get the 54 you end with.

Round 5 through 8 are increases for the integrated ear flaps. Round 9 and on, you combine increases for the ear flaps with decreases at the forehead and nape, so the hat doesn’t get any bigger. The hat has been made several times, so let me know if things still aren’t adding up and we can troubleshoot!

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